India, May 15 -- Former Member of Parliament Anand Paranjpe on Thursday resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Mumbai, becoming the first senior leader to quit the party after Sunetra Pawar took over its leadership following Ajit Pawar's death in Baramati on January 28.

Paranjpe submitted his resignation from the party's primary membership and all organisational posts to NCP president Sunetra Pawar earlier in the day. Within hours, he joined the Shiv Sena at Balasaheb Bhavan in the presence of Shiv Sena parliamentary party leader Shrikant Shinde and state ministers Uday Samant and Dadaji Bhuse.

Paranjpe had reportedly been unhappy over not being considered by the NCP leadership f...